Making an offer
Understanding price guides: reserve, asking, estimated and indicative price
Why these are four different numbers, what the Statement of Information must disclose, and how Victoria's underquoting rules work.
- The Statement of Information's indicative price can't be set below the agent's estimate, the seller's asking price, or a rejected written offer.
- A reserve or asking price is rarely disclosed in advance, and an auction reserve is often only fixed on the day.
- Comparable sales for underquoting purposes have defined distance and recency limits.
- Selling above the advertised guide doesn't automatically mean underquoting occurred.
Five different numbers, easily confused
A single listing can carry an estimated selling price, an indicative selling price, an asking or reserve price, a suburb median, and — after the fact — a sale or passed-in price. They answer different questions and are set by different rules; treating any one of them as "what the property is worth" is a common way buyers over- or under-anchor.
Estimated selling price
The agent's own estimate, given to the seller in the sales authority. It must be reasonable and take into account the 3 properties the agent considers most comparable (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). It sets a floor: the agent cannot advertise below it.
Indicative selling price (Statement of Information)
Every residential property an agent is engaged to sell must have a Statement of Information, whether or not the property is advertised. It must state an indicative selling price — a single figure or a range of up to 10% — details of the 3 most comparable sales (or a statement that fewer than 3 exist), and the suburb median house or unit price, no more than 6 months old (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). That indicative price cannot be lower than the agent's estimate, the seller's asking price, or a written offer the seller has already rejected (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). It must be displayed at every open for inspection, included in online advertising, given to you within 2 business days of a request, and updated whenever it changes (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026) — it's the first thing worth checking on a property you're seriously considering.
Reserve price and asking price
The lowest price a seller will actually accept is the reserve price at auction, or the asking price in a private sale. It can differ from the agent's estimate, a seller isn't required to disclose it to their agent during the campaign, and an auction reserve is usually only set on the day itself — sometimes higher than the advertised range (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Neither figure is published in advance, so no amount of asking the agent will reliably surface it before the day.
Comparable sales
To count as comparable for underquoting purposes, a property must be of similar standard or condition, and — in metro Melbourne — sold in the last 6 months within 2km, or outside metro Melbourne, sold in the last 18 months within 5km (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). The 3 comparable sales listed in a Statement of Information are a starting point, not a substitute for your own read of how genuinely similar they are to the specific property.
Advertising rules and what changes trigger an update
Agents may advertise a single price or a range of up to 10%, cannot use qualifying words like "offers above" or "from", and cannot advertise below the estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or a rejected written offer (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). If a seller rejects a written offer specifically because it's too low, the agent must update the indicative price and any advertised price below that offer — but not if the offer was rejected for another reason, like its conditions (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Agents who breach these rules risk a penalty of more than $48,842 and forfeiting their commission (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026).
A price selling above guide isn't automatically underquoting
An advertised or estimated price is a guide only and can change while a property is on the market. A property selling for more than its advertised price doesn't necessarily mean underquoting occurred — competing buyers bidding against each other can also push the price up (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Read a wide gap as a prompt to ask questions, not as proof of a breach.
Worked example
A Statement of Information shows an indicative price of $650,000–$715,000, with 3 comparable sales between $660,000 and $700,000 and a suburb median of $680,000. The property later sells for $760,000. That gap could reflect genuine competitive bidding between several buyers — or it could be worth a question to the agent about whether the estimate and comparables were reasonable when set. Neither conclusion follows automatically from the sale price alone.
Practical checklist
Before you rely on a price guide
- Get the current Statement of Information, not just the portal listing price
- Check the date of the 3 comparable sales and how genuinely similar they are
- Note the suburb median and how old it is
- Don't ask for or rely on an informal reserve-price answer from the agent
Questions for a professional
- Do the comparable sales in this Statement of Information genuinely reflect this property?
- Has the indicative price changed since the property was first listed, and why?
Official resources
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Underquoting information for real estate agents
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers
Sources and methodology
- Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026)
- Underquoting information for real estate agents — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026)
Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.